Some newsagents are paying the London Evening Standard to stock copies, the newspaper's editor said today as he revealed it was trebling its advertising revenues on some days.

After the London paper went free two months ago, boosting the number of copies issued daily from 200,000 to 600,000 it dramatically cut back on its distribution outlets, to the chagrin of some readers – particularly in London's outer suburbs.

The Evening Standard editor, Geordie Greig, said today that the paper had been besieged by inquiries from newsagents wanting to stock the paper as a way to attract customers, even though they were no longer paid a commission.

"What has happened is that entrepreneurial London has taken over. Little companies have got together and have decided to distribute the Standard in little places we decided we couldn't afford to go to," Greig told the BBC Radio 4 Media Show.

"We used to pay a large commission to newsagents to sell the Standard. We now have dozens of newsagents paying us 2p a copy to have copies in their shop ... which they then give away," he said.

Greig was unable to give exact figures but said "dozens of newsagents" were part of the scheme.

"We have found a model to survive and thrive," Greig said. He added that no business "suddenly goes into profit" in six weeks but that the paper had more advertising from luxury companies than ever before.

Greig said that the year-on-year advertising revenue increases had been "absolutely dramatic". "Double the income on some days, almost treble the income on some days, a year-on-year comparison," he added.

Delegations from papers in Washington and San Francisco had visited the offices of the Evening Standard, which is majority-owned by a consortium led by Russian billionaire Alexander Lebedev and 24.9%-owned by Associated Newspapers.

Whereas the Evening Standard sold 700 copies at Holborn in central London, it now gives away 10,700 copies at the same location.

• To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email editor@mediatheguardian.com or phone 020 3353 3857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 3353 2000.

• If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly "for publication".